Is it actually cheaper to have a water meter?

[dontcomeatme]

I know its not the most thrilling thread but needs must.
We're trying to reduce some of our monthly bills and water is something we've always just accepted as the way it is. We live in a 3 bed semi and pay £55 a month, is this average or does it depend on the area? We're NE.
I'm debating getting a water meter installed but I've read so many mixed stories. Some say it reduced their bill, others say it massively went up!
Anyone have any experience of switching? Was it worth it?

I think the advice is that if you have less people than bedrooms, it is cheaper to be on a water meter. How many people live in your house?

If you live in a large or high council tax band and have low water use eg. 1 or 2 people living in a 3 or 4 bed house, you’ll get probably save money on a meter unless you use a particularly large amount of water. People with a lot of kids and showers and laundry etc in smaller properties will probably find it more expensive.

We have 2 adults and 2 young DC. We're very water cconscious, but I have a feeling we probably use more than we realise. I wonder why it's not mandatory to get a meter 🤔

You can usually do a prediction calculation on the website of your water company.
When I had mine fitted (long time ago now we had a year to see if it was cheaper) and in my case it was.

Probably cost of changing everyone onto a water meter.

We could only compare ourselves to FIL, he was single man in 4 bed house, we were 4 people in a 4 bed, 2 adults and 2 mid/late teens who showered daily. Ours was half the cost of his but we are in different areas so his water board is not ours.

Our bill has increased in terms of consumption but also price wise has gone up. We are now paying £75 a month now as 3 adults here full time and Ds2 here when he is home from uni so about half the year. We use a dishwasher daily, washing machine, have showers daily. Both Dh and Ds work in an office 2 days a week but apart from that 3 of us are home all day, so toilet use and we drink water too plus a coffee machine. We have a boiling water tap too so no kettle.

Personally I think everyone should pay for exactly what they use, we do it with electricity, gas and petrol. I know my FIL used a hosepipe without much care because how much he uses does not affect his bill.

Edited to add, our increase in consumption is costing an £50 a year but the bill has increased from £54 a month to £75.

@Christmaspresentsareinthewardrobe I tried that but weren't sure it was at all accurate, it estimated I would save hundreds a year 😅 just thought it was lying to me to rope me in!

We saved massively when ours was installed, had it a few years now. We were 2 adults and 4 teens and still saved money.

It is in some areas!
southern water were rolling them out across their region years ago.

I think not.

we saved when we installed, even when the kids were little and the washing machine seemed to be on every day!

@RememberDecember I'm definitely going to look further into it. I wonder if there's someone I can ring, much prefer a conversation rather than filling in forms!
Can you get the meter switched off once you have one or is that it? No backsies? If that makes sense 😅

The guideline mentioned in the summer is that if you have fewer people living in the house than bedrooms, you should save. Our water costs went down by two thirds.

I'm not sure it's cheaper, but probably fairer for smaller households (ie single people or couples), as you're only being charged for usage rather than an average for the house size.

If you're already conscious of usage then you may not save much. It certainly makes me think about using water because of increased costs. I have a patchy, half-dead lawn to prove that! Your bill is quite low for a family, well compared to mine with two young adult DDs anyway.

I think we had the option of going back after 1/3m if we didn’t like it, so worth checking. I think we were paying about 70 and it dropped to about 40. Now more like 50.

Our old house we didnt have one (they couldn't fit it) and was had to pay £70 a month
Now on a water meter and its £22 a month!

When I had one installed Yorkshire Water said I could change my mind within a certain time. I do have more bedrooms than people 1 child 1 adult. I’m paying a lot less than standard bill 30 a month although was 15 a month up to this year.

£55 is reasonable. There are 3 people who live in our very small 2 bedroomed house in yorkshire. The water bill is £68 per month.

It depends on a few things. Main one is how many people live in your property compared to how many bedrooms it has. Water companies base their estimates on bedrooms and how many people would be living there.
I paid £40pm for years and I live in a 3 bed house. I have a meter now, and pay way less. I paid £245 for the whole year.

When I first moved into this house it was rented. It was illegal to have a meter fitted without the landlords permission but I went ahead and "ticked the wrong box" on the website to get one installed. I am not a bath person but most days I take 2 showers and so I pay for what I use.

I have strong feelings about water meters and feel they should be compulsory. People should pay for the water they use, as with gas and electricity. If families use a lot of water then that is the lifestyle they have chosen. Just as I have chosen a single and child free lifestyle. The old rates system was massively unfair with singles subsidising (as usual) families.

No, once it's in, there's no going back.

We pay £83 per month for two of us, and more recently, just me. I don't wash the car, or water the lawn.

With two young DC I personally wouldn't get one. Has been more expensive for us with three

I asked around with friends in our area who had a similar family size and used that as a comparison.

We are 4 adults in a 5 bed house and pay £70/m x 8 months without a meter, so approx £600 p.a on rateable value (but our house is massively extended, and the rateable value is based on the original size). Friends with similar family size are paying £70/m x12 months on a meter. So for the time being, I'll stick on rateable value. No doubt we'll eventually be forced onto a meter, but if the adult kids moved out it would probably make sense for us to switch anyway.

I wouldn't assume that a meter would always be cheaper.

Depends on the company probably Severn Trent gave 12 months to decide if you wanted to switch back to unmetered

Portsmouth water told us last year that they were updating pipework and adding meters but that we didn't have to change to metered supply. Then in September we got an email to say that they were making us have a meter. We will be on the meter in November.

We live in the nort east of England, Northumbria water on a meter.

Last bill we use 132 litres of water a day, given the price per litre that works out at £6 a month in water the rest is made up of various charges and we pay £26 a month.

I know someone in very similar circumstances to us but not on a meter and they pay £52 a month.